This invention relates to a removable attachment to golf clubs, and more particularly a putter, or similar club. Unlike many other attachments that aid in aligning the putter head in the direction of the target, this invention aids in (1) the proper fitting of the putter to the golfer, and (2) in analyzing a golfer's ability to maintain, during the course of his (her) stroke, his (her) stroke plane alignment.
It is an objective of my invention to secure for the golfer the added accuracy that is achieved from putting from the same and desired stroking position every time. There are a variety of individual statures, styles, stances, and preferences that vary the angle between the golfer's sight plane and the ground from golfer to golfer. Despite the different angles between each of their sight planes and the ground, each golfer should, and can, through use of the putter fitting tool and stroke analyzer, create the desired stroking position, that is a 90 degree angle, in the sight plane, between the line created by the intersection of eye, fitting tool and putterhead, and the target line along the ground. Each golfer has his own "unique" sight plane, as described above, based upon the following controlling variables: (1) The length from the putterhead to where the shaft is gripped by the hands; and (2) the angle created at the hands between the putterhead and the eyes.
I think that it is important that my invention follow my design concept. Briefly, I disagree with the widely held belief of golf experts that each golfer's sight plane should be perpendicular to the ground, that is, that having the eyes directly over the ball is the preferred position to putt from. Utilizing this assumption, other manufacturers can then fit the golfer to the club instead of the club to the golfer for obvious production reasons. Therefore, the clubs they produce have no visual reference point to establish when the putterhead is perpendicular to anything. Installing my fitting tool at a specific distance from the upper surface of the putterhead allows the golfer to have a gauge intersecting the line of sight to the ball striking point, controlled by the putterhead-handgrip-eye angle.
My patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,144, Robert D. Stormon May 22, 1990, has a sight on the putterhead that visually aligns the eyes perpendicular to the target. This is done by varying the elevation in the design of a sight, so that it becomes optically straight from only the perpendicular or 90 degree position from the eyes to the target, on the line the ball travels. In nearly every case, the desired stroking position leans the 90 degree sight plane toward the golfer, occasionally as much as 20 degrees inside the vertical position from the club head. The significance being, if the putterhead lie angle is not adjusted to match the line to the target, the stroke must be manipulated to some degree to compensate. Putting under this circumstance, the natural tendency is to alter the line in mid-stroke, especially on short putts. Explanation being, the golfer sees that the stroke must follow the line from the ball to the target, but the natural stroke is from the eye to the target. To further complicate the compensation, the body's balance is set to gravity, and if the terrain is sloping away from the golfer's toes, the eyes will be even further inside the line from the clubhead to the target and vice-versa when the opposite slope is encountered. This condition is less noticeable on longer putts because the two separate planes to the target become more parallel viewed over the longer distances. The 90 degree sight plane provides a positive way of repeating the same predetermined and desired stroking position. The fitting tool allows golfers of any stature, whether they play with their eyes over the ball or not, to find their desired stroking position, and the manufacturer focuses the lie angle of the putterhead to the sight plane of that position.
There are two anticipated uses of the invention:
1. My fitting tool is a device which, when attached to the shaft of a golf putter, allows the golfer to experiment with a variety of exact shaft angles and gripping lengths without physically changing the lie angle of the clubhead. Using the sight plane indicator marks over the sight or point where the clubhead strikes the ball. The user can settle on the most suitable position and shaft length combination for the desired stroke. He now has the exact indicated adjustment necessary to order a custom fit club.
2. When the fitting tool is used as a stroke analyzer, it allows the golfer to more easily detect and correct any deviation from the desired path of the clubhead during the stroke. The location of the fitting tool amplifies the deviations. The clubhead will travel precisely on the intended target line when the golfer visually maintains both the latitude and the longitude of the sight plane indicator mark, using the eye as the pivot (axis), through the stroke. With practice, this tool adds a new dimension that aids in the development of what it takes to support the weight of the club at the shaft angle that has been selected and improve the senses for better control when the device has been removed.
I think it is important to achieve the following characteristics in a fitting tool and stroke analyzer.
(a) To provide a device with indicator markings that parallel the sight plane on a putter with a 90 degree sight plane sight. This enables the golfer to duplicate the same positioning after the device is removed from the shaft for play rather than practice.
(b) To provide a device that attaches to any putter to create a 90 degree sight plane with the device, allowing the golfer to read the exact lie angle required to convert the position to the putter that I invented with the 90 degree sight plane sight.
(c) To provide a device that is light in weight to have a minimal effect on the balance of the club while it is attached.
(d) To provide a tool to the consumer at a very modest cost, which allows a golfer of modest means to obtain a properly custom fit putter directly from the manufacturer and/or use of the tool to analyze his (her) stroke and improve his (her) putting ability to the extent the tool by itself allows.
(e) When the fitting tool is installed on my putter with the proper lie angle of the putterhead selected, but new to the golfer purchasing it, the fitting tool allows the consumer to check that the 90 degree sight becomes straight at the proper point on the fitting tool's scale.
My fitting tool will be best understood, together with additional advantages and objectives thereof, when read with reference to the drawings.
Definition: Indicator marks on the rod are referred to as "lie angle" marks, or "sight plane" marks, to more clearly depict whether they are being used by the manufacturer to adjust the club head lie angle or the sight plane to the golfer in this text.